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A Strong Europe Benefits the US and Israel
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks as he campaigns at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, US, August 12, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
JNS.org – When former President Donald Trump speaks, exploding heads tend to follow, often for good reason. His recent comments about NATO, saying he would not protect European countries that do not pay their dues to the alliance, set off alarm bells at home and across the Atlantic. In the case of Trump, however, one can despise the messenger and recognize that his message has some merit.
At a recent rally in South Carolina, Trump caused chaos by speaking of a conversation he had with a foreign leader when he was president. Trump claimed he told the leader that not only would he “not protect” NATO members that are delinquent in their payments or fail to meet their defense spending requirements, but he would also encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” with them.
European Council President Charles Michel responded by saying that Trump’s statements “serve only Putin’s interest.” Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S.”
These are valid concerns and point to real consequences that could result if Trump’s words become U.S. policy.
At the same time, however, Michel himself acknowledged that Trump’s statements underscore the importance of European investment in the continent’s “nascent efforts” to strengthen its “strategic autonomy” and defense capabilities. European nations have already started that process and well they should.
According to a 2023 NATO report, Russian and Chinese defense spending has increased 277% and 566% respectively since 2000, while European investment remained flat. Despite signing the 2014 Defense Investment Pledge following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, only two of the top five European NATO allies—Poland and the United Kingdom—kept their promise to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. According to 2023 estimates, they spent 3.9% and 2.07% respectively. Only 11 of the 31 NATO countries are expected to meet their defense obligations in 2024.
However, there has been some movement on this issue. Germany will reach its goal of spending 2% of its GDP on defense in 2024 and the E.U. has pledged $54 billion to Ukraine, relieving the United States of some of the aid burden.
The existing NATO-based global security apparatus can be understood as a triangle with the U.S. at the peak and NATO allies together with Israel forming a narrow foundation. Such a triangle is highly unstable. Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s ongoing power plays and Iran’s malign behavior are proof of this.
The United States, Europe, Israel and all Western-aligned countries are better off with a militarily strong Europe. After decades of neglect, European nations must refortify their military capabilities and reassess their strategic partnerships in key areas such as defense, energy, security, supply chains of essential goods and technology.
European nations that understand this have been forging a deeper and broader relationship with Israel. Germany is now Israel’s largest defense trading partner and has acquired the Arrow missile-defense system.
Led by Poland, Central and Eastern European nations that fear Russian aggression are aligning with Israel due to shared strategic interests. European nations are looking to friendshore essential goods to Israel and the other Abraham Accords countries. There’s hope that Saudi Arabia won’t be too far behind.
What does all this mean for the Western alliance and the United States?
Assuming America maintains its status as the top military power in the world, it will remain at the peak of the global security triangle. However, if Europe and Israel align their strategic interests and invest commensurately in their respective defense and security capabilities, the base of the triangle widens, creating a more stable triad that can better withstand and confront global instability.
Moreover, strengthening Europe and Israel strategically and militarily reduces the burden on the United States.
Trump is often his own worst enemy, relying on over-the-top and insolent rhetoric as his preferred means of persuasion. In this case, however, his language, as outlandish as many consider it to be, contained an important warning.
That is, there may come a day when Europe can no longer depend on the United States to protect it. As a result, European leaders need to look after their own countries’ national interests.
The post A Strong Europe Benefits the US and Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IAEA’s Grossi to Iran: Not Much Time Left in Talks on Nuclear Inspections
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi holds a press conference on the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
Time is running out in talks between the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran on how to fully resume inspections in the Islamic Republic, the watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday, adding that he hoped the discussions would conclude within days.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access to Iran‘s key nuclear facilities since the United States and Israel bombed them in June. Iran passed a law after the attacks suspending cooperation with the IAEA and saying any inspections had to be approved by its Supreme National Security Council.
The IAEA and Iran are now in talks on the “modalities” of a full resumption of inspections, though Grossi says that does not alter Iran‘s duty to allow verification measures such as inspections as a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“There is still time, but not much. Always enough when there is good faith and a clear sense of responsibility,” Grossi said in a statement to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
“Progress has been made. It is my sincere hope that within the next few days it will be possible to come to a successful conclusion of these discussions in order to facilitate the resumption, the full resumption, of our indispensable work with Iran,” he added.
Their talks are taking place against the backdrop of Europe’s top three powers having initiated a 30-day process on Aug. 28 to re-impose sanctions on Iran. The curbs were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers that unraveled after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of it in 2018.
Those three powers – France, Britain and Germany, known as the E3 – have said they will go ahead with re-imposing sanctions under the so-called “snapback” process unless IAEA inspections fully resume in Iran, and Tehran accounts for its large stock of near-weapons-grade uranium and resumes nuclear talks with the United States.
“I am confident that with these practical steps [on inspections] in place, other important diplomatic consultations and processes will find a more promising ground upon which to advance towards positive outcomes,” Grossi said, apparently referring to broader diplomacy such as Iran-E3 discussions.
In Tehran, Iran‘s foreign ministry said the talks with the IAEA were “positive” but had not yet reached a conclusion and that no specific time frame was determined for the next round of talks.
“On Saturday, the third round of negotiations ended and their results are currently being reviewed in Tehran by relevant authorities and we will announce the next steps when this review is finalized,” ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference on Monday.
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Israel Vows ‘Hurricane’ of Strikes on Gaza to Force Hamas to Accept Surrender Demand
A missile falls towards a building during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israel said it would step up airstrikes on Gaza on Monday in a “mighty hurricane,” to serve as a last warning to Hamas that it will destroy the enclave unless the terrorist group accepts a demand to free all hostages and surrender.
Residents said Israeli forces had bombed Gaza City from the air and blown up old, armored vehicles in its streets. Hamas said it was studying the latest US ceasefire proposal, delivered on Sunday with a warning from President Donald Trump that it was the Islamist group’s “last chance.”
“A mighty hurricane will hit the skies of Gaza City today, and the roofs of the terror towers will shake,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
“This is a final warning to the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza and in the luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons – or Gaza will be destroyed, and you will be annihilated.”
Katz’s post appeared before reports of a shooting at a bus stop in Jerusalem that killed six people including one Spanish citizen. Hamas praised the attackers.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed a 12-floor block in the middle of Gaza City where dozens of displaced families had been housed, three hours after urging those inside and in hundreds of tents in the surrounding area to leave.
In a statement, the IDF said Hamas terrorists who had “planted intelligence gathering means” and explosive devices had been operating near the building and “have used it throughout the war to plan and advance terror attacks against IDF forces.”
According to a senior Israeli official, the latest US proposal calls for Hamas to return all 48 remaining living and dead hostages on the first day of a ceasefire, during which negotiations would be held to end the war.
Hamas has long said it intends to hold onto at least some hostages until negotiations are complete. It said in a statement it was committed to releasing them all with a “clear announcement of an end to the war” and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
OFFENSIVE IN GAZA CITY
Israel launched a major offensive last month on Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of residents are living in the ruins having returned after the city experienced the most intense fighting of the war’s early weeks nearly two years ago.
Residents said Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air and ground, and detonated decommissioned armored vehicles laden with explosives, destroying clusters of homes in the Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, and Tuffah neighborhoods.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come soon to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. An Israeli official said Israel was “seriously considering” Trump’s proposal but did not elaborate.
The war began with an assault by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel in 2023. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza. Most of the hostages were released in ceasefires in November 2023 and January-March 2025, but the group has kept others as a bargaining chip.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in Gaza.
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Turkey Opposition Uses Tables, Chairs to Block Police Besieging Headquarters
Riot police walk outside the Istanbul provincial office of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), as CHP supporters gather near the office, after a recent court ruling that ousted the CHP’s Istanbul provincial leadership, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dilara Acikgoz
Turkish opposition lawmakers piled tables and chairs at the entrance of an office at their party’s Istanbul headquarters on Monday to block police and prevent the replacement of a senior official whom a court ordered out last week.
The dramatic footage of the barricade standoff marked the latest chapter in a nearly year-long crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during which hundreds of party members have been arrested and jailed.
Outside the building, hundreds of riot police detained protesters, used pepper spray, and scuffled with leaders of the CHP, which is the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan.
Last week, an Istanbul court ruled to oust the CHP’s Istanbul provincial head, Ozgur Celik, over alleged irregularities. It ordered that Gursel Tekin, a former CHP deputy chair, should replace Celik on an interim basis.
The CHP rejected the ruling as “null and void,” said Tekin had been expelled from the party, and vowed not to relinquish Celik’s post to anyone.
Nonetheless, Tekin arrived at the CHP headquarters amid the protests on Monday to take up the post. He entered the building with police support after a standoff with party members inside, and told reporters he was not working for the state and pledged to help solve the CHP’s problems.
A few floors above, CHP lawmakers piled the furniture nearly to the top of the door to prevent the entry of the police and Tekin. In a stairwell outside the office, police officers evacuated CHP supporters, after having used some pepper spray to force them out, witnesses said.
“Today, they are not only trying to evacuate the building from CHP (supporters) here, but they are actually attempting to dismantle democracy,” Gokhan Gunaydin, a CHP MP standing behind the barricade, said on a live X broadcast from inside the room.
More than 50 CHP MPs were in the CHP headquarters to dissuade police. Istanbul’s main stock index fell 3 percent on Monday, partly over rising political risk, analysts said.
CRACKDOWN
The crackdown on the CHP is centered mainly on corruption allegations the party denies. It says the legal steps aim to eliminate electoral threats to Erdogan and weaken the opposition – charges the government denies, saying courts are independent.
Istanbul’s CHP Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in March as part of the sprawling investigation, setting off Turkey‘s largest street protests in a decade and hitting Turkish assets.
Share and bond markets fell again last week after the latest court ruling in Istanbul, which could have implications for a separate ruling expected next week on whether CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel will be stripped of his title.
On Sunday, police barricaded the CHP offices, prompting the party to call on supporters to gather there to oppose the “siege,” after which authorities announced a ban on protests.
Access to major social media websites was restricted in Turkey on Monday, a step taken in the past by the authorities at times of political volatility. Netblocks, a global internet monitor, said access to platforms including X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp had been curbed.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said disregarding the court ruling amounted to obstruction of justice and that “the state will do what is necessary against any illegal initiative.”